Highway guard rail



Def 9, 1941. J. E. oPGENoR'rH HIGHWAY GUARD RAIL Filed March 17, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet l a N. 5. mmm fn TP N ma Mm v5 T N T 1M /A @M Dec. 9, 1941.v J. E. oPGENoRTH 42,265,698

HIGHWA Y GUARD RA I L Filed March 17, 1959 2 sheets-sheet 2 INVENTOR Jay/VE. OPGE/vaeT/l Wwf@ /ATToRNEY Patented Dec. 9, 1941 HIGHWAY GUARD RAIL J ohn-f. E: Opgenorth,f-.Nashotahj` Wis.

.fApplication-March l1'7, 1939,,Serial No. 262,467

(Clf- 256-'13.1)

lMy invention relates. to highway guard rails.

The object. ofmy invention istofprovidean improved highway, guard rail constructionfand sup port and. anchorage. therefor, whereby. `evenalong va curvedhighwayline to provideelements of .resiliency andiiexiblityl and at-,the .sametime superlative. strength.

Another object of` myinvention is to' provide a newtype vof highway. guard raiLsuppOrt which,

.although anchored, is capable of 'substantial lateral or swivelling skid-like motion.

In the drawings: Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a highwayy guard .rail construction embodying myinvention, portion of the support and. anchorage .being shown f in Vertical section.

Fig..2.is.a planview of the` construction shown in Fig.. 1.

.Fig..3. isa. side elevation inenlarged detailfcf .oneof myguard rail' supports.

v Fig.'.4 is a .plan view ofthe Vdeviceshown in Fig. 3.

Like parts are identifiedbythe same-reference characters throughout the several views.

.My -highway guard rail supporting andanchorv ing structureincludes supportingunits Ill comprising multi-legged supports spaced apart `'for the holding and supporting ofguard rails'orcables I I l 2, each.ofthesupporting.units havinguskid- .like shoes I3 .at the lower endsof` their respective legs, said shoes 'being adaptedto bear upon eitheraconcrete slab. i4 or vupon the earthconstitutingthehighway shoulder I5.

In the drawings, I have shown Illy-supporting .units I0 shaped. in .thefform offatripodl having .a forward leg land two rearward legs Iliandl made of a conventional channel. The forward leg I5 is placednearest to the highway road surface and is preferably substantially vertical. The

rear legs I'I and I8 .are somewhat inclinedand braced with reference to the forward .leg It-by upper brace member I9 .and lower brace meniber 20. Additional brace members `2| may be yprovided to give adequate strength.

Clamps 22 and 23, which may be in the .shape ofv U-bolts as .shown -inFigsA-and 5, are used to .clamp cables ll -and- I2 relativelytightly to the supporting unit.

Below each of the supporting units Ill, Ian- .3

chor aflexible cable 25 which extends substantially vertically upwardly adjacenta clamp-strut `26 extended across the lower brace20, this clamp strut being of heavy material and lprovided with a clamp 26D through which the anchor cable eX- t.'

tends. 4Above therstrut 25, I provide an anchor cable clamp 21 to frictionally engage the anchor cable 25. The anchor cable extends through this clamp a distance of 8 or l0 inches to a stop terminal 28 which comprises a leaded or otherwise approaching vehicles.

. permanentlyV aflixedA head for the end. ofathefanchor cable. .Each' of the clamps `is provided with vclarr1p-bolt29 and maybe drawn relativelytightly so as to frictionally engage the anchor cable 25.

At any vconvenient point,-but. preferably: adjacentv the. top of .my supportingl unit llh'mount a signal 50 .which may'carry vrei'iective material .to indicate its position at night under ther lights tof This ysignal is mounted upon a bracket 5! for movement-'to and from position shown in full. lines-in-Fig 5. The standard uponiwhichthe signal is mounted iscranklike in its configuration and provides a'horizontally extended armor -lever 53. .This leveris Aconnected by means of a spring 54 to the head-28 of the anchor cable-25. .If'my suppcrtingunitis .displaced from its intended position,the anchor cable-will be rdrawn down .through the clamps asdescribed above and,-when so-drawn'down; will cause the signal Sato-assume the -position-shown in. dotted lines at, this indicating to a highway kmaintenance engineers thatthe supporting 'unit .has .been .moved from its vintended position.

Since the cable when-pulled. downwardly through the clamp 269 will notbefreturned-to itsloriginal position until the engineerhas'released the clamp v.and replaced -thesupportingI unit toits intended -positiomthe signal `will remain 'in-the dottedl line .position until the engineer replaces it in'its'erect position.

At the end of .the line of cable lI-'I2, Iy-provide the usual dead man1 @Il anddead mancable 3l .The cable 3l extends -over la-snubbing-pcst`32 .andfat the end ofthe cable-*3| I provide a turnybucklefi which, in turn; is secured -to a wedge blocklaboutwhich the cable II-l2 islacedfby tightening the turnbuckle 33. The wedgeYblock 3d draws. the cables Il-IZ-tightly through 'the .LJ-boltsy or clamps.22 .23.

As indicated` above, I prefer `tomount my supportineunits lll `upon concrete slabs I4. In-any ei/ent, Iprovidefa Aslabt iortheend support *I0 .and I incline-the sur-faceaof the slab 35, yas shown vin Fig. 1, so that if .thesupport lll isstruck by a r vehicle .and moved longitudinally -of the cable llA-l.2,.altighteningactlon -with respect tothe .oablel I I-IZ will result.

VIirom the abovedescription, it'will-be yseen that .each ormymulti-legged supporting units It is individually frictionally anchored to its cable-25 by .means of clamp 26),but each of the units being v:mounted upon skid shoesy i3 ispurposely adapted to -skid orslide under the impactioffa Vehiolewhich may` strike the cable l I-I2 orrmay .strike one-of the supporting units `Ill directly. :If

the weight or impact of a vehicle againstoneof the cables Il or l2 or against one of my supporting units Il) is such as to require that the supporting unit move despite the frictional engagement of the clamp 260 upon the cable 25, the

engagement of the cable through the clamp 260 plus the resistance of the movement of the cable through the clamp 2l will be available to counteract the forces attempting to move my supporting unit. If the movement continues,

however, the ultimate contact of the stop terminal 28 against clamp 2l will determine the nal movement of the supporting unit. Beyond this,

3. A highway guard rail support and anchor therefor including a multi-legged supporting unit capable of skid-like movement in upright position and braces between said legs, a substantially vertically disposed anchor cable and a clamp connected to a brace and to said cable whereby in the skidding movement of the unit to displace said cable in said clamp, said cable having a terminal i. member in position to strike the clamp in eXtreme my unit may not move without destruction of the unit, the breakage of cables Il or I2,or rupture of the anchor cable 25. If the unit l has been displaced laterally suiciently to bring the stop terminal 28 in contact with the clamp 2l, the cable 2,5 in passing throughthe anchor plate 26 will be snubbed about the plate so as to give the -terminal 28 and the clamp 21 a considerable advantage In practical use and test'of my highway guard rail supports, I have found that it is virtually impossible to displace one of my supporting elements l0 beyond the ultimate limit of movement determined by the contact of th terminal 28 with the clamp 2l. V

Obviously with the construction such as that described above, it is possible not only to move my guard rail support rearwardly away from the highway,-but it is also possible to move the support along the cable l I-I2 and I thus provide a exibility andresiliency of guard rail cable support that is far superior to any support such as Vthe ordinary fence posts or metal supporting posts which are mounted upon springlike anchorage members. My entire tripod or multilegged supporting element may skid or slide relatively freely within limits and the resulting damage to the guard rail supports and to any Vehicle which may be brought in contact with my device is exceedingly small. 1

In actual use, I have found that my supporting unit is particularly free for movement which might be termed a swivelling movement which results from the glancing impact of a vehicle or other object using the highway, since the contact of such vehicle or object against the. clamps 22 or 23 may move my supporting unit in the skidlike motion along the cable or rail lI-IZ. At the same time, my unit rotates about the anchor cable 25 and releasesthe clamps 22 and 23 from engagement with any portion of the vehicle.

I claim: v

1. A highway guard rail construction including individual multi-legged supporting units each capable of skid-like movement in upright position, and a flexible cable-like anchor member substantially vertically -disposed between the legs of each unit and clampingly secured relatively thereto the clamping engagement being provided by means including a multiple of clamping members spaced apart whereby in the continued skidlike movement of the supporting unit to provide increasing resistance to said movement.y

2. A highway guard rail support and anchor therefor .including a multi-legged supporting unit capable of skid-like movement in upright position and braces between said legs, a substantially vertically disposed anchor cable and a clamp connected to a brace and to said cable whereby in the skidding movement of the unit to displace said cable in said clamp.

movement of the unit and thereby limit said movement.

,4. A .highway guard rail supporting unit provided with a forward leg and divergent brace legs, said unit being capable of skid-like movement in upright position, highway rail supporting means adjacent the forwardleg and an anchor cable between the forward legs andthe brace legs.

5. A highway guard rail supporting unit mounted for skid-like movement with reference to an anchorage member, a. signal for said unit, an

anchorage member, and a connection between the anchorage member and the signalwhereby to change the position of the signal ,when the unit has been displaced with reference to the position of the anchorage member and means for holding the signal in displaced position against automatic return even though the unit has been returned to its original position.

6. A highway guard rail and support therefor including in said support anchorage means eX- tending from the highway shoulder upon which said support is rested, a clamp forming part of said support and frictionally engaging said anchorage means, a second clamp upon said anchorage means spaced from said rst clamp, and a stop terminal upon the anchorage means spaced from said second clamp whereby in the displacement of said supporting means to provide increasing resistance to movement of the support upon the shoulder.

7. A'highway guard comprising an upright unit having a base portion by which the unit issupported for skid-like movement in upright position, and an upright flexible cable-like member having connections at its end portions between said unit and the surface on which said unit is supported whereby said unit is normally held in fixedposition on said surface, one of said connections being constituted by readily accessible clamping means in which said member is slidable soV that said unit under impact is bodily movable subject to the frictional resistanceaorded by the clamp connection. y,

8. A highway guard comprising an upright unit having a base portion by which the unit is supported for skid-like movement in upright position, an upright flexible cable-like member having connections at its end portions between said unit and the surface on which said unit is supported whereby said unit is normally held in fixed position on said surface, one of said connections being constituted by a readily accessible clamping means in which said member is slidable Vso that said unit under impact is bodily movable subject to the frictional resistance afforded by the clamp connection, and a fixed stop on the extremity of the clamped portion of said member adapted to engage said clamping means and thereby positively limiting movement of said unit.

l JOHNy iE. OPGENORTH. 

